Shinto & Buddhism:
Wellsprings of Japanese Spirituality

The Japanese religious tradition is rich and complex, encompassing within it
both complementary and contradictory trends in religious thought and practice
with an ease that may occasionally puzzle the Western observer. At the very
heart of the tradition stand Shinto, the indigenous religion of Japan, and
Buddhism, the Indian religion that reached Japan in the sixth through eighth
centuries A.D. from Korea and China. Throughout the long course of Japanese
history, it has been these two religions that have contributed most to the
Japanese understanding of themselves and their world.

Shinto
Shinto was the earliest Japanese religion, its obscure beginnings dating back at
least to the middle of the first millennium B.C. Until approximately the sixth
century A.D., when the Japanese began a period of rapid adoption of continental
civilization, it existed as an amorphous mix of nature worship, fertility cults,
divination techniques, hero worship, and shamanism. Unlike Buddhism,
Christianity, or Islam, it had no founder and it did not develop sacred
scriptures, an explicit religious philosophy, or a specific moral code. Indeed,
so unself-conscious were the early Japanese about their religious life that they
had no single term by which they could refer to it. The word Shinto, or
"the Way of the kami (gods or spirits)," came into use only
after the sixth century, when the Japanese sought to distinguish their own
tradition from the foreign religions of Buddhism and Confucianism that they were
then encountering. Thus, in its origins, Shinto was the religion of a pristine
people who, above all, were sensitive to the spiritual forces that pervaded the
world of nature in which they lived. As one ancient chronicle reports: in their
world myriad spirits shone like fireflies and every tree and bush could speak.

Remarkably, neither Shinto's relatively primitive original character nor the
introduction of more sophisticated religions, such as Buddhism and Confucianism,
caused the religion to wane in importance. In part its continued existence can
be explained by pointing to changes that took place within Shinto, for after the
sixth century, it was gradually transformed into a religion of shrines, both
grand and small, with set festivals and rituals that were overseen by a distinct
priestly class. However, such developments have had little effect on basic
Shinto attitudes and values. More crucial to Shinto's survival, therefore, have
been its deep roots in the daily and national life of the Japanese people and a
strong conservative strain in Japanese culture.

The Shinto world view is fundamentally bright and optimistic, as befits a
religion in which the main deity is a sun goddess. While it is not unaware of
the darker aspects of human existence, Shinto's chief raison d'etre is
the celebration and enrichment of life.

Much can be learned about Shinto's world view from Japanese mythology. Two
eighth-century works, the Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters) and the Nihon
shoki (Chronicles of Japan), include the story of the creation of the
Japanese islands by the divine couple, Izanagi and his mate, Izanami; the
subsequent birth of numerous gods and goddesses -- the Sun Goddess, Amaterasu,
chief among them; and the descent of representatives of the Sun Goddess' line to
rule the islands. Two aspects of the mythology are particularly noteworthy. The
first is its this-worldly orientation. Other worlds are mentioned in the
mythology -- the High Plain of Heaven, for example, and the Dark Land, an
unclean land of the dead -- yet we receive only the haziest impressions of them.
Blessed with a mild climate, fertile seas, and impressive mountain landscapes,
the early Japanese seem to have felt little compulsion to look far beyond their
present existence.

A second important feature of the mythology is the close link among the gods,
the world they created, and human beings. The tensions present in Western
religion between the Creator and the created, and the human and natural realms,
are conspicuously absent. In the Shinto view, the natural state of the cosmos is
one of harmony in which divine, natural, and human elements are all intimately
related. Moreover, human nature is seen as inherently good, and evil is thought
to stem from the individual's contact with external forces or agents that
pollute our pure nature and cause us to act in ways disruptive of the primordial
harmony.

Shinto deities are referred to as kami. The term is frequently
translated "god" or "gods," but it expresses a concept of
divinity significantly different from that found in Western religion. In
particular, Shinto deities do not share the characteristics of utter
transcendence and omnipotence often associated. with the concept of god in the
West. In the broadest sense, a kami may be anything that is extraordinary and
that inspires awe or reverence. Consequently, a wide variety of kami exist in
Shinto: there are kami related to natural objects and creatures -- the
spirits of mountains, seas, rivers, rocks, trees, animals, and the like; there
are guardian kami of particular locales and clans; also considered kami
are exceptional human beings, including all but the last in Japan's long line of
emperors. Finally, the abstract, creative forces are recognized as kami.
Evil spirits are also known in Shinto, but few seem irredeemably so. While a god
may first call attention to its presence through a display of rowdy or even
destructive behavior, generally speaking, the kami are benign. Their role
is to sustain and protect.

Worship in Shinto is undertaken to express gratitude to the gods and to
secure their continued favor. Worship may take the form of one of the many large
communal festivals that occur at fixed times during the year, celebrating such
events as spring planting, the fall harvest, or some special occasion in the
history of a shrine. However, it may also be carried out privately in a much
abbreviated fashion in the home or at the neighborhood shrine. Although a
festival may continue for several days, shifting at times in mood from the
solemn to the lighthearted or even raucous, individual worship may require only
a few moments to complete. In spite of such contrasts, both types of Shinto
worship have three essential elements in common. Both begin with the
all-important act of purification, which ordinarily involves the use of water;
in both an offering is presented to the kami, today usually money but
often food; and in both a prayer or petition is made. We may further note that
in general Shinto worship is performed at a shrine. These structures, which are
made only of natural materials and located on sites selected for their abodes
for the kami rather than as shelters for the worshipers.

Since Shinto is without scriptures, dogmas, and creeds, worship has always
had a central place in the religion. Rather than through sermons or study, it
has been through its festivals and rituals, as well as the physical features of
the shrine itself, that Shinto has transmitted its characteristic attitudes and
values. Most prominent among these are a sense of gratitude and respect for
life, a deep appreciation of the beauty and power of nature, a love of purity
and -- by extension -- cleanliness, and a preference for the simple and
unadorned in the area of aesthetics.

Buddhism
By the time Buddhism entered Japan in the sixth century A.D., it had already
become a world religion with a history of a thousand years. The form of Buddhism
that from the start was dominant in Japan is known as Mahayana, the Buddhism of
the Greater Vehicle, and it brought with it an enormous canon of religious
literature, an elaborate body of doctrine, a well-organized priesthood, and a
dazzling tradition of religious art and architecture -- all of which Shinto
lacked in the sixth century. Although its view of the world and mankind differed
markedly from that of Shinto, it is important to understand that within the
teachings of Mahayana Buddhism both differences from and similarities to the
native tradition could be found. On the one hand, for example, Buddhism regarded
the world as transient and saw it as a source of suffering for those who
remained attached to it, a view that contrasts sharply with Shinto's ready
acceptance of the world. On the other hand, however, there was an optimism in
Mahayana Buddhism that meshed well with Shinto -- an optimism about human
nature, for it was committed to the belief that all human beings had the
potential to attain the wisdom that brings an end to suffering, and an ultimate
optimism about the world itself, since it taught that once human attachments are
discarded, the world takes on a new and positive significance.

It is no wonder that at first the Japanese were unable to appreciate Buddhism
on its own terms. They regarded the Buddha as simply another kami and
were drawn to the religion by the beauty of its art and the hope of such
concrete benefits as wealth and longevity that, on the popular level, Buddhism
did not disdain to promise. By the seventh century, however, individuals capable
of grasping Buddhism's message began to emerge. In general, we may understand
the subsequent development of Buddhism in Japan as the result of constant
interaction between the foreign religion and the native religious tradition. For
its part, Buddhism consciously sought to develop a positive connection with
Shinto. This was eventually accomplished by identifying the Shinto kami
as manifestations of various Buddhas and bodhisattvas that had grown up within
Mahayana Buddhism. By this conception, the Buddhists were able to introduce many
of their own ideas into Shinto, and, in the end, argue that Shinto and Buddhism
were complementary versions of the same fundamental truth -- a view that gained
wide acceptance in Japan.

The effect of the native religious tradition on Buddhism was to bring to the
fore within it those aspects that best suited Japanese tastes. This can be
illustrated by brief references to three Buddhist sects that represent uniquely
Japanese developments: Kukai's (774-835) Shingon sect; Shinran's (1173-1262)
True Pure Land sect; and the sect founded by Nichiren (1222-1282) and known by
his name. All of these sects are still active today. The Shingon sect stands in
the mainstream of Buddhism in terms of doctrine -- emphasizing the transient
nature of existence and calling upon its followers to transcend the ordinary
world of suffering -- and in the broad outline of its practices, which stress
the importance of ethical conduct, meditation, and study. However, Shingon
Buddhism advocates a distinctive type of meditation. More intricate than
traditional meditation, it involves the use of symbolic hand gestures and
speech, that is, mudras and mantras, as well as a form of Buddhist art known as
a mandala. The mandala represents the universe as it is seen by
the enlightened and serves as the object of meditation. The sheer complexity of
Shingon meditation, coupled with the rich symbolism and beauty of the mandala,
give this sect an air of mystery that has proven particularly attractive to
millions of Japanese from Kukai's age to the present.

In the True Pure Land sect, we encounter a very different kind of Buddhism,
one that advocates salvation by faith rather than the attainment of
enlightenment through the practice of morality and meditation. Based upon the
belief that as time passes human beings find it increasingly difficult to follow
the example of the historical Buddha -- an idea that can be traced all the way
back to India -- it teaches that in the present era salvation can be gained only
by relying on the saving grace of the celestial Buddha Amida, who resides in a
Pure Land to the West. This belief had been embraced by other Buddhists, not
only in Japan, but in China and India as well; but Shinran was the first in the
history of Buddhism to draw the radical conclusion that acceptance of it must
lead to the complete abandonment of monastic discipline. Consequently, from
Shinran's day on, it has been common for True Pure Land priests to marry and
live as lay persons, and the sect has been one of the most popular to develop in
Japan.

Finally, in the Nichiren sect, we see surfacing in Buddhism, in a dramatic
fashion, the strong sense of national pride that has frequently been related to
religious sentiment in Japan. Nichiren was an impassioned reformer who
envisioned both himself and Japan at the center of a worldwide movement to
revive what he considered to be true Buddhism.

These figures and sects do not, of course, reflect all of the many ways in
which Buddhism was trans-formed in Japan; nevertheless, in them we can glimpse
some of the salient characteristics of Japanese Buddhism. In Shingon, we see a
strong attraction to the mystical and mysterious, as well as to aesthetic modes
of apprehension and expression; in the True Pure Land sect, we observe a
preference for a kind of Buddhism that can be followed within the context of
everyday life; and in the Nichiren sect, we detect an ever-present consciousness
of national identity. Given Shinto's emphasis on ritual and the aesthetic
features of the shrine, its thisworldly orientation, and its close connection to
the myth of Japan's origins and the Imperial line, it is not difficult to
discern the influence of the native religion and the background of these
developments.

For Further Reference
de Bary, Wm. Theodore. "Japanese Religion" in Arthur E. Tiedemann,
ed., An Introduction to Japanese Civilization, Lexington, Massachusetts: D. C.
Heath and Company, 1974. Available in paperback. Discusses Shinto and Buddhism
along with other religions that are part of the Japanese religious tradition.

Japanese Religion: A Survey by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Tokyo:
Kodansha International, 1972. Available in paperback. See
"Introduction" and chapters on Shinto and Buddhism.

Picken, Stuart D. B. Shinto: Japan's Spiritual Roots, Tokyo: Kodansha
International, 1980. Illustrated with photographs. Shinto: Nature, Gods and
Man in Japan, a film presentation by the Japan Society. Except for the undue
stress given to the distinction between the sacred and the secular and the place
of images in Shinto, a useful and beautiful film. Available from the Japan
Society, 333 East 47th Street, New York, N.Y. 10017; also available from the
Audio Visual Library of the East Asian Studies Program at Earlham College,
Richmond, Indiana 47374.